River of Life

RIVER OF LIFE Ezekiel 47:1-12 August 30, 2020 We have reached the end of Ezekiel's journey. His life, and his ministry, have not been easy. He was 25 and in the prime of life. He was a Temple priest, which meant he had respect, and the potential to make a lot of money. He was newly married to a woman he adored. Then, the Babylonians invaded, and he was taken away to Babylon to live the rest of his life. He didn't even live in the capital city. He lived in a small town by the sewage ditch which ran out of the capital. When he was 30 he began to receive visions and hear the voice of God Almighty. God took away his wife. He forced him to lay in the middle of the city market, bound with ropes. He built a clay model of Jerusalem, then shouted at anyone who passed by about the impending fall and destruction of the city. He warned them God had left the city, and would not fight for them. Everyone they loved would die. Passersby feared him. He looked and acted insane. He starved himself for over a year, and described the horrific events happening in Jerusalem as they endured the siege. He described terrifying creatures and called them avenging angels. He saw things no one else could see. And, all the time God never called him by name. Instead, he called him 'son of man' - puny human. This was not the easy, easy ministry Daniel was living in the capital. As God promised, Ezekiel never made it back home. He died in Babylon. The building on the left is the tomb of Ezekiel, in Al Kifl, Iraq. The picture on the right is the inside of the tomb. Technically, this is a Muslim shrine. Now, why in the world would Iraqi Muslims maintain a shrine to a Jew? Arabs hate Jews, right? The answer is - because Ezekiel was right. Everything Ezekiel prophesied came to pass, exactly as he said. He was so accurate, the Babylonians were forced to recognize - this man is a prophet of God. He speaks the truth. There were two parts of his prophecies the Babylonians especially liked. They liked that he spoke death and destruction to the Jews of Jerusalem. That made them happy. But, more than that, they liked his descriptions of Heaven. If he was right about everything else, he must be right about life after death. Much of the Muslim concept of Paradise (Jannah) is taken directly from the book of Ezekiel. How do you think Ezekiel felt about his life when he reached the end? Was he angry with God for everything he lost - family, friends, fame, and fortune? Was he severely depressed, like the prophet Elijah in his final days? Did he become like the Sadducees - it doesn't matter what we do, life has no meaning, and God doesn't help with anything? What do you think? I think, Ezekiel ended life feeling good. Of all the books in the Old Testament, Ezekiel is the most committed to bodily resurrection, and eternal life in Heaven.1 If Ezekiel was right about everything else, then he must be right about resurrection. One day the Messiah will come to get all of us, and take us home. And, on that day, we will each get a brand-new, perfect, body. And, if you believe that, it's much easier to deal with all the hardship and unfairness of this life. Has life treated you really, really badly? That's OK. There is a better life coming. And, while this life may last for 100 years, the life to come will last forever. I think Ezekiel died with a smile on his face. For the last two weeks Ezekiel has been walking us through his vision of Heaven, the New Jerusalem. He has given us painstakingly accurate details of the construction and dimensions. And, as you would expect, the New Jerusalem has a Holy Temple. It's fabulous. It is gigantic. It is ornate, decorated with the finest metals and woods found anywhere in the world. The city of Jerusalem once occupied all of Mt. Zion. Now, the Temple by itself, takes up the entire mountain. You might wonder why there is a Temple in Heaven. God told Ezekiel Heaven is not big enough to contain him. It can barely contain the soles of his feet. The idea that God lives in a tiny box in the Holy of Holies is smashed. So, if God is everywhere in the city, why do we need a Temple? Because, in Heaven - as on Earth - worship of God is a privilege and a joy. Think we're done with church when we get to Heaven? Think again. One of the delights of Heaven, is worshipping Jesus with every Christian who has ever lived. Standing next to Peter, and Paul, and John Wesley, and John Calvin, and singing at the top of our lungs - holy, holy, holy is the lamb. The purpose of the Temple in Heaven, is to focus and organize our worship. When Ezekiel sees the Holy Temple, he notices something very strange. There is a huge door which separates the Temple exterior from the Holy place. And, there's water running out of the Temple, from under that door. He describes the water coming from the door as a 'trickle'. In Hebrew, what he actually writes is - pak.2 It means the trickle of water poured from a vase. Ezekiel says someone is standing behind the door. They have small, 1/2-gallon, vase in their hands. They're pouring out this trickle of water and it's running under the door out into the streets. The crazy thing is, as the water flows away from the Temple, it increases in volume. The stream starts with a tiny trickle. Ezekiel walks 1000 cubits from the Temple doors; basically 1/3 of a mile. The stream is 10 feet wide and ankle deep. He walks another 1/3 mile and now the stream is 25 feet wide, and knee deep. Another 1/3 mile and it's 50 feet wide and waist deep. One more 1/3 mile and now the stream is 100 feet across and over his head. He can't swim, so he doesn't know exactly how deep - but deep. This good thing coming from the house of God, is getting bigger and better as it goes along.3 Soon, the river (because now it's no longer a stream) leaves the city and begins flowing east to the Negev. This is the desert which lies between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The Hebrews calls it 'the Great Devastation'. It is terrible, terrible land. People cannot exist in the Negev. It's something you travel through, not somewhere you go. If you've listened to me describe the geography of Israel, you might wonder - how does a river go east from Jerusalem? Directly east of Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives. The water can't flow out of the city, then up the side of the mountain, then back down to the Negev. The answer to that comes from the prophet Zechariah.4 Zechariah writes (14:4-8), "On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south. On that day the sources of light will no longer shine, yet there will be continuous day! Only the Lord knows how this could happen. There will be no normal day and night, for at evening time it will still be light. On that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half toward the Mediterranean, flowing continuously in both summer and winter." Zechariah describes the glory of God, as described by Ezekiel, coming to the New Jerusalem. When God comes to his city, the Mount of Olives will split in two, and the River of Life will flow east to the Negev. And, wherever the river goes, beautiful, luxurious, life abundant springs up. The Negev is a horrible place. Sand and scorpions - nothing else. But, suddenly with God, lush vegetation and beautiful gardens erupt. All the way to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is toxic. Nothing lives in the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is 34% salt. That's 10 times more salty than the ocean. For the Hebrews, the Dead Sea was the perfect metaphor for everything wrong in this world.5 It looks good. At the edge of the Negev, the Great Devastation, is a lake. But, fresh water saves, salt water kills. Fresh water is life giving. Salt water is death. Fresh water is good. Salt water is evil. The Dead Sea was considered lost to evil. Now, the Dead Sea is fed by the River Jordan. The River Jordan is good water. The Israelites loved the River Jordan. But, the good of the River Jordan cannot overcome the evil of the Dead Sea. Evil wins. Until, the River of Life arrives. When the River of Life reaches the Dead Sea, everything comes alive. The water is filled with fish. Good fish. People are lining the shore to fish in the Dead Sea. And, it doesn't matter how many arrive, or how many fish they catch, because the waters are teeming with life. More life than the Sea can contain. The Negev, the Great Devastation, transforms into an orchard. All the way from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea are fruit of every variety. And, instead of one harvest each year in the Fall - the trees ripen and renew every month. Food, good food, is in unlimited supply. All that's required is to pick it up and eat it. Anything you could want. It's all there. God supplies everything his people could possibly want. Ezekiel says something odd. He says the leaves of these trees provide healing. I thought no one ever got sick, or died, in Heaven. So, why do we need healing? Throughout the Ancient Near East the people believed that in Heaven, the leaves of the trees, provided immortality.6 Eat the leaves one time, and live forever. Ezekiel is telling us that in Heaven, we will live forever. No sickness. No death. No physical ailments or infirmities. Perfect health, forever. How does that sound? Sound like somewhere you might want to go? I do. We once lived in Heaven; in the Garden of Eden. Life was perfect. But sin came in. We wanted to be God. We wanted to be in charge. And so, we were sent out of the Garden. We were sent into this world. This world is a hard place. God intended it to be a hard place. When Adam was evicted, God said to him (Genesis 3:17-19), "Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return." The ground is cursed, until the River of Life renews it. What is this river? What is this which comes from under the door in the Temple? What is this which fixes the worst brokenness, and makes new? The last year of his life Jesus attended a festival at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The priests poured water from a vase on the altar, to imitate Ezekiel's River of Life. (John 7:37-38), "On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, "Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart." Jesus knew the book of Ezekiel, and he says he is the River of Life. Are you tired of everything wrong? Tired of people hurting each other? Tired of sin running the show? Tired of working so hard, for so little? This life will pass. On the other side is the New Jerusalem. And, everything there is perfect. It's perfect because Jesus is the source of life there. You and I talk about Heaven, but we've never seen it with our own eyes. Ezekiel saw Heaven. Yeah, in spite of how hard his life was, I think he died with a smile on his face. 1 Will Bankston, "An Active Reading of Scripture: Biblical Understanding, the Concept of Resurrection, and the Criterion of Confession," Journal of Theological Interpretation, 13 no. 1 (Spring 2019), 94-112. 2 NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 1408. 3 Gordon Matties, New Interpreter's Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 2003), 1226. 4 R. C. Sproul, general editor. New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1324. 5 William R. Farmer, "The Geography of Ezekiel's River of Life," The Biblical Archaeologist, 19 no. 1 (February 1956), 17-22. 6 NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, 1409. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2